Why do you need to evac the a/c system when doing this job? I am planning on doing this job soon and plan to bypass the resistor pack and have full speed only. My car finally failed VA inspection for no defrost. I never knew they checked that.

In order to get to the resistor pack you must remove the hvac unit from the car in order to remove the hvac unit you must disassemble the ac lines in order to disassemble the ac lines you must evacuate the system.

Take it to any trusty ac automotive repair shop and have them evacuate the system. The connections are in the engine bay on the right side of the car behind the passenger seat area. Have them evacuate the system.

In order to get to the resistor pack you must remove the hvac unit from the car in order to remove the hvac unit you must disassemble the ac lines in order to disassemble the ac lines you must evacuate the system.

Take it to any trusty ac automotive repair shop and have them evacuate the system. The connections are in the engine bay on the right side of the car behind the passenger seat area. Have them evacuate the system.

Thanks for the info. I was thinking that I would have to remove the clam and then drive my car to get the AC evacuated with clam off. For some reason I thought the refill of AC was done in the engine compartment and the drain was under the clam. Thanks for clearing this up.

The ratcheting crimpers are the the best, but but the price can be a bit high (I just found one on line for $200). But for normal home use you can also get by with a GOOD pair of professional crimpers. I have an old Klein hand crimper, but you can find them at any most any Home Depot or Lowe's. Klein makes professional tools for electricians, so they have them in the electrical tool section.

The Klein crimpers are pretty much a big pair of pliers that allow you to put a lot of leverage into the crimp. The crimp is wide and has the "peg" on once side that dents in the connector to make the secure connection. They really work very well, and they cost around $20. Admittedly not as good as one of the ratcheting crimpers (I have them for electronic connector - old RS-232 pins - so I do know how much better they are), but they do a more than sufficient job.

I the "old days", I used the typical hand crimpers - you know the kind; they crimp, strip, and cut bolts to length. They never did a good job, distorting the crimped connector, and often times having the wire pull out. Not so with the Klein crimper.

Here are two photos of Klein crimpers and a third of a ratcheting crimper. The first is the good kind that I've been talking about. The second is the typical type of crimper that most people try to use - the ones that don't work very well at all. (Note that the photos are not to scale - the first one is bigger and much more heavy duty than the multi-purpose tool in the middle.) The third photo is a generic ratcheting crimper - sells for around $20 (note that it squeezes the crimp but doesn't "dent" it).

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An old post I know, but obviously a good crimping job requires a good crimper and proper technique but also a good butt-connector or whatever connector you're crimping. I've bought some before that have a cheap plastic sleeve that seem to "break" when I crimp them and slide off easily... is there any brand you order online or do you have a shop nearby that you get them from (home depot, autozone, etc). I tend to pick them up wherever I happen to be at... whether it be walmart or autozone

I've bought some before that have a cheap plastic sleeve that seem to "break" when I crimp them and slide off easily... is there any brand you order online or do you have a shop nearby that you get them from (home depot, autozone, etc). I tend to pick them up wherever I happen to be at... whether it be walmart or autozone

I tend to remove the "cheap plastic sleeve" and crimp the "raw" metal onto the wires. But before I crimp, I slip on the shrink sleeve tubing. Then when crimped, I cover the crimp with the shrink sleeve and heat up the sleeving - sealing up the joint.

Tim Mullen --- There is no such thing as Touring suspension or Touring wheels.

I love being married. It's so great to find that one person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life. - Rita Rudner

Near the beginning there is a post of the three resistor values. One is 0.05. However in the diagram a few post down that resistor has a value of 0.5. Mouser does not list the 0.05. Is that number incorrect and should have been 0.5?

Near the beginning there is a post of the three resistor values. One is 0.05. However in the diagram a few post down that resistor has a value of 0.5. Mouser does not list the 0.05. Is that number incorrect and should have been 0.5?

rob13572468,
I'm just a lowly mech engineer, not electrical so there's some things I don't quite understand here. In your diagram you have a .05 and a .22 ohm resistor in series. Doesn't this equal a single .27 ohm res? Or are these 2 necessary for power dissipation? If power or heat dissipation is not an issue, it looks like this pack could be made up of 2 resistors instead of three.
The orig part you listed (.05 ohm) isn't listed by the distributor. If 2 x .27 ohm res could be used, it circumvents this problem.
Alternatively, they do list a .1 ohm and .15 ohm. These would total .25 ohms and would still be 2 res. to share power and heat. This should give slightly faster speeds 1 & 2. Am I thinking this correctly?

It's a confusing read but... look at the orig wiring diagram. Substitute the .05 & the .22 with a single .27 ohm. Leave the rest intact. That's what I'm talking about. Where I mention 2 x 27 ohm res's. it includes the one for low speed (for a total of 54 ohms).

My guess is that instead of using one 0.27 ohm resistor, a 0.05 and 0.22 was used to minimize heat dissipation.
Zero resistance is for #3 speed
0.27 ohms (0.22 + 0.05) is for #2 speed
0.54 ohms (0.27 + 0.22 + 0.05) is from #1 speed
Michael

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